Hydrocarbon exploration can be very expensive. In order to lower the risk of investment and efficiently use drilling and production resources, it is important to know the types of hydrocarbons that may be present in a reservoir in an earth formation.
One way to determine the types of hydrocarbons that may be present in a formation is to convey a measurement instrument or downhole tool through a borehole penetrating the formation. The tool can then perform measurements from the borehole, which a petro-analyst can analyze to estimate the types of hydrocarbons.
There are many types of hydrocarbons that may be present in the formation. Some of them may have chemical characteristics that may be similar to the characteristics of other types of hydrocarbons leading to data that may be difficult to analyze or to data that may present a false indication. Hence, it would be appreciated in the drilling and geo-physical exploration industries if drilling instruments and tools could be developed to more accurately characterize hydrocarbons in earth formations.